Rohit, Shikhar set the tone as Ireland cave in
BIG STAND Openers put up 160 as India amass 208 to win first T20 by 76 runs
DUBLIN: Rohit Sharma missed out on a well-deserved third T20 international century as India made a mockery of an inexperienced Ireland bowling attack, scoring a commendable 208 for 5 in the opening encounter of the two-match series here on Wednesday.
Ireland were restricted to 132/9 in reply with spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal sharing seven wickets.
Put in to bat, Rohit made amends for his poor IPL form with a breathtaking 97 off 61 balls in company of an in-form Shikhar Dhawan, who smashed 74 off 45 balls. The opening pair put on 160 in 16 overs to set the foundation. However, India lost three wickets in the final over, preventing them from scoring over 225, which looked likely on a placid track.
Young right-arm medium pacer Peter Chase finished with career-best figures of 4 for 35 with a memorable 20th over in which he accounted for Mahendra Singh Dhoni (11), Rohit and skipper Virat Kohli (0). Rohit went for a wild slog and was bowled, thereby missing out his hundred by a whisker.
His innings had eight fours and five sixes while Dhawan had five boundaries and an equal number of maximums.
India reached 50 in the fifth over. When the team total reached 61, Rohit-dhawan completed 1000-run in the form of their partnership in T20 Internationals.
India’s 100 came up in the 11th over and neither batsman had offered a chance to the bowlers till then. Dhawan reached his seventh T20 half-century off 27 balls, while Rohit’s 15th T20 half-century came off 39 balls. 97 (61) 74 (45) 10 (6) 11 (5) 6 (1) 0 (2) 0 (0) Shannon lbw b Kuldeep 60 (35) Balbirnie st Dhoni b Chahal 11 (14) Simi Singh c Kohli b Kuldeep 7 (10) Wilson st Dhoni b Chahal 5 (9) O’brien c Dhawan b Chahal 10 (5) Thompson c Pandya b Kuldeep 12 (8) 7 (9) 9 (6) 5 (13) 2 (8) Poynter b Kuldeep
Dockrell b Bumrah
Rankin not out
Chase not out
Extras (lb-2, w-1)
Total (9 wkts, 20 overs)
FOW: 1-4, 2-45, 3-72, 4-85, 5-96, 6-96, 7-114, 8-123, 9-126.
Bowling: B Kumar 4-0-16-0, J Bumrah 4-1-19-2, H Pandya 4-0-36-0, Y Chahal 4-0-38-3, Kuldeep Yadav4-1-21-4.